In this blog I will be going through the beginnings of my fitness journey and how a social icon such as Zyzz impacted me whilst growing up.

I had always been a lean and flimsy kid growing up. My interests would only revolve around soccer and soccer only. Whether it was playing soccer in a competitive league or staying up until sunrise to watch European soccer leagues online, soccer brought me a great deal of happiness. However despite this, constant injuries such as adductor strains and a hernia would often keep me sidelined for extended periods of times. This made me upset, really upset.


It was around this time (Christmas period) in 2010 I decided to seek advice on strengthening my joints and muscles to prevent these damaging injuries. The advice was to hitting the gym but I had no idea where to start. So I began researching online, desperately trying to find a community I could identify myself with and feel comfortable during the initial learning process involved with bodybuilding and strength training in general. It was tough initially as the bodybuilding community is often seen as daunting and hyper-masculine in nature, especially for a flimsy 14 year old like me at the time (Underwood and Olson, 2018). I distinctly remember asking my brother, who was 24 at the time, for some advice as I had regularly seen him sipping on his protein shakes at home. The response was as expected, telling me the gym is not for kids but rather a place for ‘big boys’ and ‘bodybuilders’ (Smith and Stewart, 2012). So instead I kept on researching online in hope that something or someone will be relatable to me.

Thankfully, whilst browsing the forums of bodybuilding.com, I stumbled upon Zyzz, or more formally known as Aziz Shavershian. Zyzz was an Australian bodybuilder and fitness model known for his antiques on social media and Australian music festivals. However it was earlier in his life where Zyzz experienced countless amounts of bullying and hate as he was labelled a ‘nerd’ for graduating as dux of his school and being skilled at computer games. Zyzz used this as a source of motivation as he began to document his fitness journey online through a plethora of social media platforms such as YouTube, 4chan and bodybuilding.com forums. Videos varied in nature, with some being informative whilst others showcased Zyzz working out or dancing to music. With a goal in mind to inspire like-minded young individuals to begin their journey of self-actualisation inside the gym, Zyzz’s popularity within the fitness community began to grow and is still at large in fitness communities around the globe.

So why did I respect and look up to Zyzz so much?

Well similar to myself, Zyzz described himself as a skinny boy growing up, and it was through his motivational transformation videos on YouTube that I quickly became inspired. The thing with Zyzz was that not only was he informative, but he was also rather comforting and relatable. It was more then just the physical aspect of the transformation that I was attached to, but rather the emotional side. That once vulnerable feeling of stepping inside a gym was eliminated, as Zyzz was able to successfully wave off the alpha male seriousness of the bodybuilding community through humour and memes (Smith and Stewart, 2012). Gender hierarchies were dismantled, creating a platform for males to express themselves online with like-minded individuals in comfort (Underwood and Olson, 2018). This was essential as the hyper-masculine nature of bodybuilding was one of the main barriers for me on my journey to self-actualisation. This is backed by research, with studies suggesting that bodybuilders tend to distance themselves from emotion. instead conforming to hegemonic masculinity norms (Underwood and Olson, 2018). Hence, this explains why it was so easy to connect with Zyzz’s ideologies as it gave me an escape from what is considered ‘normal’ within the bodybuilding scene.

So how does this relate to my online identity or persona?

Well, I have grasped onto endless amounts of knowledge through following the footsteps of Zyzz. I want to ultimately expand on elements from Zyzz’s online identity, where young individuals can identify themselves with me on an emotional level as well. Like Zyzz, promoting men to refrain from being emotionally detached will be essential in growing my online presence, as it was ultimately this factor that made him popular (Underwood and Olson, 2018).


References

Smith, A. and Stewart, B. (2012). Body conceptions and virtual ethnopharmacology in an online bodybuilding community. Performance Enhancement & Health, 1(1), pp.35-38.

Underwood, M. and Olson, R. (2018). ‘Manly tears exploded from my eyes, lets feel together brahs’: Emotion and masculinity within an online body building community. Journal of Sociology, 55(1), pp.90-107.